A field experiment was conducted at Agronomy Main Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology in summer 2016 and 2017 to study the root characteristics of aerobic rice under different establishment methods and nitrogen levels under two hydrological situations of aerobic and anaerobic during summer. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications comprising five establishment methods, under aerobic condition, like direct seeding in solid rows 20 cm apart (E₁), direct seeding by punji method (dibbling) at20cm x 20cm (E₂), transplanting (under un puddle un flooded condition i.e. aerobic) with 1 seedling at 2 leaf stage at 20 cm x 20 cm (E₃), 2-3 seedlings at 4 leaf stage at 20 cm x 10 cm (E₄) and with 2-3 seedlings at 4 leaf stage at 20 cm x 20 cm (E₅), allotted to main plots, and four nitrogen level like N₁-30kg N ha^-1, N₂-60kgN ha^-1, N₃-90kgN ha^-1 and N₄-120kgN ha^-1 were allotted to sub plots. Similar set of treatments was employed in an observation strip (un replicated) under anaerobic condition where sprouted seeds were sown directly in puddle (anaerobic) soil in E₁ and E₂ treatment and transplanted under puddle anaerobic condition in E₃,E₄ and E₅ treatments for comparison. The study revealed that root traits like root length, spread, root length: root spread ratio and shoot: root ratio were more under aerobic un puddle condition while the traits like root dry weight and volume were more in anaerobic  puddle condition. Transplanting in a square geometry of 20 cm x 20 cm spacing with 2- 3 seedlings hill^-1 at 4 leaf stage (E₅) in both the hydrological conditions of aerobic and anaerobic produced significantly higher values of different root trait.All the root characters increased with each incremental dose of nitrogen in both the hydrological situations of aerobic and anaerobic.

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